French Rapeseed Frost Damage ‘Too Early’ to Judge, Cetiom Says

By Rudy Ruitenberg -
Feb 7, 2012

Rapeseed damage from a cold snap in
the north and east of France is “too early to evaluate,” said
Cetiom, the country’s technical center for oilseed crops.

About 350,000 to 400,000 hectares (865,000 to 988,000
acres) of rapeseed, mainly in the Lorraine and Champagne
regions, had temperatures of minus 16 to minus 15 degrees
Celsius (3 to 5 degrees Fahrenheit) without snow, with a low of
minus 19.7 Celsius near Reims on Feb. 4, Paris-based Cetiom said
in a report on its website today.

Rapeseed can resist freezing temperatures as low as minus
18 Celsius without snow to insulate the crop, providing it had a
“sufficient” adaption phase, according to Cetiom. France is
the European Union’s largest rapeseed grower.

“The rapeseed crops were in a good state to face this cold
wave,” Cetiom wrote. “It’s too early to evaluate the
consequences of the cold wave. Even in the absence of
destruction of the plants, the cold wave will translate into
increased defoliation.”

Freezing temperatures are affecting the soil, which will
delay vegetation and the plants’ ability to regenerate, Cetiom
said.

Plants should be fine in the south of the Franche Comte
region, the south and west of Picardy, as well as in Burgundy
and Rhone Alpes as temperatures have been above minus 15
Celsius, according to the researcher.

Defrosted rapeseed plant samples in Burgundy confirmed the
“optimistic view of the situation,” Cetiom said. Barley crops,
which are more sensitive to freezing temperatures, did show
signs of frost damage, it said.